[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: Swampy Electric Guitar, Deep Sub-Bass, Organ, Piano, Drums, Percussion, Saxophone]
[Intro]
Twenty-six!
(What?)
Jerk surge!
(What was that?)
Take a chance…
(Here we go!)
Dance!
[Verse 1]
Something’s coming through the circuit
Something’s moving way too fast
Feel it twitching in the system
Feel the future hit the past
First you think you’ve got it handled
Then the signal starts to switch
One little unexpected movement
And the whole thing makes you twitch
(Twitch, twitch, twitch)
[Pre-Chorus]
Ready?
(Ready!)
Steady?
(No!)
Something’s coming…
(Here we go!)
[Refrain]
Get your 26 fix
(Jerk surge)
Take a chance
(A modern dance)
Splurge
(26 jerk surge)
First
(You get completely)
Then you jerk a knee
(Real, real fast)
Like whiplash!
(Splash!)
Splurge
(26 jerk surge)
[Verse 2]
One-two-three and then you stumble
Four-five-six and lose the beat
Seven-eight and something’s jumping
Nine-ten underneath your feet
[Final Chorus]
Jerk surge!
(Jerk surge!)
Feel it hit!
(Feel it hit!)
Take a chance
(A modern dance!)
Don’t resist!
(Don’t resist!)
Twenty-six!
(Get your fix!)
Splurge!
(26 jerk surge!)
[Final Refrain]
Get your 26 fix
(Jerk surge)
Take a chance
(A modern dance)
Splurge
(26 jerk surge)
Jah, jah, jah
(Jerk surge!)
First
(You get completely)
… hit with reality…
Then you knee-jerk
(Twerk)
Hit that funny bone
(Now take it on home!)
Future to past…
(Real, real fast)
Like whiplash!
(Splash!)
Splurge
(26 jerk surge)
Tonight’s new release “#26 Jerk Surge” is a lil’ dance ditty inspired by tonight’s homework assignment “2022–2026 Jerk Surge”. A new dance craze influenced by all the versions of Locomotion, from Little Eva to Grand Funk to Kylie, plus Funk #49 by Joe Walsh. It attempts to explain the climate jerk experienced in 2026 as a cultural experiment experience. Everybody’s doin’ it.
A 2026 study found that the recent change in climate-system dynamics is being expressed not simply as continued warming, but as increasing synchronization among multiple radiative and thermal feedback pathways.
Beginning most notably around 2022, an increasingly interconnected pattern emerges among six major climate-system variables: cloud cover, planetary albedo, sea ice extent, atmospheric water vapor, ocean heat content, and surface temperature.
The three largest interaction paths form a closely connected Albedo–Cloud–Ocean Heat Content triad:
The significance is not that a single feedback has suddenly appeared. These feedbacks are already well established. The emerging signal is that multiple feedback pathways are becoming increasingly coupled—and that the rate of this coupling is itself accelerating.
That accelerating coupling is the Climate Jerk Surge.
[Spoken word]
What happens when we miss the 1.5°C Paris target?
(Did you forget?)
[Instrumental Intro: Slow Blues Guitar, Deep Sub-Bass, Low Piano, Organ, Drums, Percussion]
[Intro]
Knock, knock…
(Who’s there?)
Debt collector…
(No one’s here!)
You thought you had time
(You thought you were fine)
But time has a way
(Of collecting its pay)
[Verse 1]
We borrowed from tomorrow
And spent it all today
Took a little from the future
Then we threw the bill away
“Don’t worry ’bout the interest”
(We’ll deal with that somehow)
But the debt kept getting bigger
(And the collector’s here right now)
[Pre-Chorus]
First came the warning
(We waved it away)
Then came the interest
(It started to stay)
[Refrain]
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
First your fingers
(While the pain lingers)
There goes the toes
(Holy! And another knee)
[Verse 2]
You can’t put the pain
A hundred years away
When the heat is at your doorstep
And the flood is on its way
Somewhere far?
(Right where you are)
Far away?
(Not today!)
[Chorus]
Not speculation
(Not speculation!)
Not some distant fate
The consequences
(Are already at the gate)
[Refrain]
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
First your fingers
(While the pain lingers)
There goes the toes
(Holy! And another knee)
[Bridge]
The future moved closer
(The future moved here)
Somewhere else vanished
(It disappeared)
Climate debt!
(Not yet)
Your dues due
(Better come through)
How much can you take
Before you finally wake?
[Instrumental: Extended Blues-Rock Guitar Solo, Organ, Deep Bass, Heavy Drums]
[Pre-Chorus]
It’s not tomorrow
(It’s today)
It’s not somewhere else
(It’s this way)
It’s not abstract
(It’s real)
It’s not a theory
(Look and feel)
[Final Refrain]
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
First your fingers
(While the pain lingers)
There goes the toes
(Holy! And another knee)
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
How much pain
(Before we wake?)
[Outro]
Knock, knock…
(Who’s there?)
Debt collection…
(Already here.)
Oh, dear!
You missed the payment…
(We know.)
You missed the warning…
(Oh, no)
Now…
Pay attention.
(Avoid termination)
[Silence]
The new release of the day, “Debt Collection,” is the accounting of an accounting story. No, it’s not folklore anymore. It’s a retro-futuristic, swampy blues tune about spending your future.
The situation is due to what we do. And now, the blues dues are due.
About the Song: Climate Debt Collection
What happens when we miss the 1.5°C Paris target?
Think of it like owing money to a loan shark. The debt doesn’t wait decades to be collected.
Our fingers are being broken now. Our kneecaps are next.
One of the biggest challenges in communicating climate change is proximity—both in time and location.
If the consequences seem far away, people dismiss them. If they’re happening somewhere else, people ignore them.
But climate change is moving from:
future → present
and
somewhere else → right here.
We missed the 1.5°C Paris target. The climate debt is already being collected.
How much pain do we need to feel before we pay attention?
[Silence]
[Instrumental Intro: Reggae Guitar Skank, Warm Organ, Deep Bass, Drums, Hand Percussion, Horns]
[Intro]
Hey now!
(What’s all that fuss?)
Easy now…
(No need to push)
Take a breath
(Let it go)
Feel the rhythm
(Get to know)
One love!
(One life!)
Our heart!
(No strife!)
[Verse 1]
Woke up this morning with a cloud in my head
Thinking ’bout the things that somebody said
Carrying yesterday like a heavy load
Wondering along a lonely road
But the sun keeps shining
(Even through the gray)
And the beat keeps playing
(So dance the blues away)
You can’t change the past
(But you can change today)
So open up your heart
(And let the good vibes stay)
[Pre-Chorus]
Don’t hold tight
(To the sorrow)
Make some room
(For tomorrow)
If the world feels heavy
(Share the load)
Put a little love
(Back upon the road)
[Refrain]
Don’t be so dreadly
(Lighten up yourself)
It might turn deadly
(Lighten up yourself)
Bring to life
(Life!)
Do away with
(Strife)
Come on!
(Lighten up yourself)
Sing along
(Lighten up yourself)
[Verse 2]
If a little worry wants a place in your mind
Hey! Just say, “You better stay behind”
Fear can grow when you feed it every day
And anger gets stronger when you give it your way
So loosen up your shoulders
(Let ’em fall)
Put some music in the room
(And answer the call)
If you got a little love
(You got enough)
Give a little more
(When the going gets tough)
[Chorus]
Lighten up!
(Lighten up!)
Don’t weigh yourself down
(Lighten up!)
Turn that frown around
(Lighten up!)
Life is too short
(To live in strife)
Give a little love
(Bring it back to life)
Lighten up yourself!
(Yeah, yeah!)
Lighten up yourself!
(Oh, yes!)
[Verse 3]
There’s a line between a warning and a wall
There’s a line between standing tall and standing small
You can shout at every shadow
You can fight against the rain
Or you can learn improve your move
And dance away the pain
[Bridge]
One heart!
(One love!)
One beat!
(Rise above!)
Come on everybody…
(Lighten up!)
[Break]
Hey!
(HEY!)
You got a problem?
(Lighten up!)
Got a worry?
(Lighten up!)
Got some trouble?
(Oh, no, no no)
Don’t make it double
(Lighten up!)
Rife with life!
(Sing it!)
[Refrain]
Don’t be a dread
(Lighten up yourself)
Come rock instead
(Lighten up yourself)
Bring to life
(Life!)
Do away with
(Strife)
Come on!
(Lighten up yourself)
Sing along
(Lighten up yourself)
[Instrumental: Extended Reggae Groove — Deep Bass, Organ Bubble, Guitar Skank, Horn Stabs, Percussion]
[Final Chorus]
Lighten up!
(Lighten up!)
Don’t weigh yourself down
Lighten up!
(Turn that frown around)
Bring to life!
(Life!)
Do away with strife!
(Strife!)
Come on!
(Lighten up yourself!)
Everybody!
(Lighten up yourself!)
[Final Refrain]
Yo! Don’t be a dread
(Lighten up yourself)
So! Come rock instead
(Lighten up yourself)
Bring to life
(Life!)
Do away with
(Strife)
Bring to life
(Life!)
Do away with
(Strife)
Come on!
(Lighten up yourself)
Sing along
(Lighten up yourself)